Belfast People - Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

PEOPLENo. 2 August 10BELFAST

PEOPLENo. 2 June 10 BELFASTBelfast People is published quarterly to report on the peoplebehind the issues that affect Belfast Health and Social CareTrust - staff, service users, their friends and families.

Shrinkingourcarbon footprintOver the past two years Belfast Trust Estates teamhas been hard at work to reduce our carbon footprintas well as save the Trust some revenue.Last year we saw the first of a series of boreholesacross Trust sites which has reduced the amount ofmains water we need to use, and this year we havestarted to tackle the amount of energy being wastedin our current boiler systems. The new systemmakes the boilers more efficient as well as deliveringsavings in both CO2 emissions and cost.Damian Horisk explains, “A boiler is the basictechnology that produces heating and hot water forour Trust’s facilities. Traditional steam boilersproduce air and gases at temperatures up to 230degrees, and these are then lost through thechimney up into the atmosphere. We have installeda heat recovery system (a stack economiser) torecover the wasted energy of our existing boilers.This is the first of its kind in Europe, and the way itworks is to capture the hot flue gases before theyescape to the atmosphere. These are recycled andused to re-heat the boilers, so for example thesystem assists with the heating for the swimmingpool at Muckamore Abbey. It also allows us topre-heat the boiler for Musgrave Park Hospital.”The projected annual reduction in energyconsumption is 1,500,000 kWh and a reduction of280 tonnes of CO2. “This is the equivalent of theaverage gas used and CO2 emitted by 94 houses ina year,” says Damian. “Compared to the sameperiod last year, gas consumption and cost has beenreduced so far by approximately 10%, which is theequivalent of approximately £75,000.”The system has been so successful that plans toextend it are at an advanced stage. “As well as thestack economiser in Musgrave Park Hospital and theMater, we have just added a stack economiser intothe main boiler house in Belfast City Hospital,” saysDamian. “This will deliver a saving of £120,000 a year– the equivalent to the average gas used and CO2emitted by 294 houses. We have also hosted visitsfrom Estates teams from other Trusts and the HealthEstates Investment Group, all of whom are keen tosee how we are improving our service.”04

‘Cool’goings-on at Children’s ‘Radiothon’Over one hundred thousand poundswas raised during a recent three dayCool FM 'Radiothon' at the RoyalBelfast Hospital for Sick Children.Under the auspices of the 'Helping Hand' charitywhich supports the RBHSC, popular radio stationCool FM broadcasted live from the mall in theChildren’s Hospital with a selection of DJsinterviewing patients, parents and staff.Golfing sensation, Rory McIlroy, was one of anumber of local celebrities who took time out oftheir busy schedules to support the initiative. Amongthose he spent time with was little Ben Bingham –and ‘Sidney the Kidney’.Five-year-old Ben from Jordanstown had a kidneytransplant earlier this year. ‘Sydney the Kidney’, theyoungster’s nickname for his life-saving organ, wasdonated by his mum Andrea. Andrea was 15 weekspregnant when Ben was diagnosed with a conditionwhich affects about one in 8,000people.Before Andrea donated her kidney Ben was veryclose to having to go on dialysis and was being fedthrough a drip. “Now he is beginning to eat normallyand he tasted chocolate for the first time the otherday. The staff here do an amazing job and we are allso grateful to them, ” said Andrea.Another visitor was BBC sports presenter StephenWatson, who received a kidney from his father in1990 after discovering that both his kidneys werefailing.Other celebrity supporters included local actorAdrian Dunbar and Irish rugby international PaddyWallace.Helping Hand Charity was established by the medical staff at theRoyal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in 1997 with the singleaim of helping the children in their care.Helping Hand is an independent charity which operates througha board of trustees and fundraises exclusively for RBHSC.To make a donation visit www.justgiving.com/helpinghand or ifyou would like to support the charity through fundraising ring(028) 9027 8872.08

Five-year-old Ben fromJordanstown had a kidneytransplant earlier this yearPhotograph courtesy of Pacemaker Press International

Giving a Childa family for lifeFor Patrick and Michelle the day theyreceived the call to say they had beenmatched with a child was one they willnever forget. It was the day that years ofinterviews and courses about beingadoptive parents had finally come to anend.The couple, in their early forties, have been married for sevenyears and adopted their daughter Lucy when she was two-and-ahalfyears old.“We were approved around December 2006. We were just overthe moon with excitement knowing that we were now waiting tobe matched with our child. At this stage you believe it might onlybe a matter of months or even weeks,” said Patrick.10

“The first few weekswere an amazing time forus, bonding with Lucy”

Giving a Childa family for life“We had been approved for a year and a half andgetting more anxious with every day when we gotthe call. I was at work the day our social workerphoned to tell us we had been matched with a child.I couldn't believe it at first, after waiting for whatseemed like such a long time.”Patrick took the rest of the day off and went hometo tell his wife the news. “We were so excited -talking about everything from room decoration toplanning an adventure centre for our garden. Wefound it hard to take in that we would soon have anew addition to our family.”Michelle continues the story, “The first few weekswere an amazing time for us, bonding with Lucy,finding out all her likes and dislikes, playing, singingand telling nursery rhymes. We went on park visits,beach visits and had many trips to adventure landsall over the country, as well as introducing her to ourfamily and friends. Lucy seemed to settleimmediately and was part of the family andextended family within days.”12

“Family life over the last one-and-a-half years hasbeen wonderful. Lucy has started preschool and hasmet lots of new friends and interacts very well withthem all. She is a very lively, intelligent andimaginative child. We feel that we must be theluckiest parents in the world to be able to share ourlives with her.”The Trust welcomes enquiries about adoptionservices on Freephone 0800 7834376.“Family lifeover the pastyear-and-a-halfhas beenwonderful”

OURVOLUNTEERSIf you have a few hours to spare or want to give something back tosociety then why not consider volunteering with Belfast Trust. Ourvolunteers give practical help and support to patients and visitors. Forpeople who are retired or unemployed and have free time, volunteeringprovides an opportunity to meet people, share and learn new skills andhelp others. Volunteering can provide useful experience to young peopleconsidering a career in the NHS and a number of our volunteers go onto study medicine, nursing, or gain other employment within the healthand social care sector.John Tinman is a volunteer with Belfast Trust who gives up six hours of hisspare time each week to volunteer in the Royal Victoria Hospital. John hada very busy life as a chief executive of a large housing association inNorthern Ireland. “I really wanted to put something back into societyfollowing retirement and volunteering in Belfast Trust has met this need,’’John said. “I have volunteered in a number of different roles and am nowvolunteering as a Meet and Greeter in the Royal Victoria Hospital.”John Tinman isa volunteer withBelfast Trust whogives up sixhours of hisspare time eachweek tovolunteer in theRoyal VictoriaHospitalJohn describes his role as the person who provides the friendly face whenyou first come to hospital. “Coming into hospital can be a very dauntingexperience. Before you get to your clinic for example you have to find aparking space, find the entrance and then find where you have to go to.By providing a friendly face I can provide a warm and reassuring welcomeand help the person to find the place they need to visit. If this helpsreduce their concerns then this gives added satisfaction. Many timespatients or visitors leaving the Royal will thank you for the help youprovided.”14

John describes his roleas the person whoprovides the friendlyface when you firstcome to hospital

OURVOLUNTEERSJohn’s experience ofvolunteering has been verypositive. “I provide a fewhours a week of volunteeringand get great satisfactionfrom everything I have donein the Trust. You meet newpeople all the time and get toknow the staff very well,” Johnsaid.If you think you would like tobe a volunteer like John wehave many volunteer rolesincluding: befriending; groupactivities; gardening; wardhelpers; story tellers; musicevenings; church escort andreception helpers. We thinkthat we have opportunitiesfor anyone who is thinking ofdoing some voluntary work.If you would like moreinformation please contactany of the people listed.Contact DetailsBernie MitchelllVolunteer Manager, Belfast TrustT: (028) 9090 3028E: bernie.mitchell@belfasttrust.hscni.netFiona BellLocality Volunteer Co-ordinator (Belfast City Hospital and Mater Hospital)T: (028) 9090 2353E: fiona.bell@belfasttrust.hscni.netJohanna BellLocality Volunteer Co-ordinator(Musgrave Park Hospital and Royal Victoria Hospital)T: (028) 9090 2292E: johanna.bell@belfasttrust.hscni.netJacqui IrelandLocality Volunteer Co-ordinator(Belfast Community, Knockbracken HCP and Muckamore Hospital)T: (028) 9090 3299E: jacqui.ireland@belfasttrust.hscni.netMaire GribbonLocality Volunteer Co-ordinator(Oncology and Haematology)T: (028) 9090 2880E: maire.gribbon@belfasttrust.hscni.net16

Belfast Trust Contact NumbersFacility Address Telephone NumberBelfast City Hospital Lisburn Road 028 9032 9241BelfastBT9 7ABHOSPITALSMater Hospital Crumlin Road 028 9074 1211BelfastBT14 6ABMusgrave Park Hospital Stockmans Lane 028 9090 2000BelfastBT9 7GBRoyal Victoria Hospital Grosvenor Road 028 9024 0503BelfastBT12 6BAMuckamore Abbey Hospital 1 Abbey Road 028 9446 3333MuckamoreAntrimBT41 4SHHEADQUARTERSBelfast Health and Social Care Roe Centre 028 9096 0000Trust HeadquartersKnockbracken Healthcare ParkSaintfield RoadBelfast BT8 8BH

Belfast Trust Contact NumbersFacility Address Telephone NumberWELLBEING AND TREATMENT CENTRESArches Wellbeing and 1 Westminster Avenue North 028 9056 3303Treatment CentreBelfastBT4 1NSBradbury Wellbeing and 1-17 Lisburn Road 028 9091 2100Treatment CentreBelfastBT9 7AACarlisle Wellbeing and 40 Antrim Road 0845 3006650Treatment CentreBelfastBT15 2AXGrove Wellbeing and 120 York Road 028 9063 6800Treatment CentreBelfastKnockbreda Wellbeing and 110 Saintfield Road 028 9063 1200Treatment CentreBelfastBT8 6GR

Belfast Trust Contact NumbersFacility Address Telephone NumberOUT-OF-HOURS TELEPHONE NUMBERSEmergency Duty Team (028) 9056 5444(all through the night, atweekends and overBank Holidays)GP Out-of-Hours Belfast (North & West) (028) 9074 444764 Crumlin RoadBelfastBT14 6AGBelfast (South & East) (028) 9079 6220Knockbreda Centre(Recorded message)110 Saintfield RoadBelfast BT8 6GR